Editorial: Without protection, online privacy at risk

Do you trust Google more than you trust the government? How about some fly-by-night website, an online operation whose overseers might not be just virtually, but are also literally, completely out of sight?

The question, ultimately, is this: Who will guard your privacy when you are online? Another quickly follows: Is there some kind of enforcement mechanism, a way to assess penalties, when violations occur?

The Federal Trade Commission, the Commerce Department, the White House and members of the Congress of the United States have all been working on these matters. Internet giants and online upstarts alike are not just sitting silently on the sidelines. Consumers, too, doubtless have a few thoughts of their own on the matter, though their voices often get lost in the din.

Finding consensus on Internet privacy is not a little daunting. There are just too many constituencies, too many opinions, too many divergent views, too much turf to be protected. Oh, and there’s lots of money at stake, too. This does not mean, however, that regulators should just throw up their hands in disgust, bowing to those who assert that the Internet, in order to thrive, needs to remain completely unfettered. This is facile in the extreme. Online operations assert that they can handle privacy concerns without direction, on their honor, as it were. We’ve had more than a few hints of where that will lead.

We are all of us able to do all that we do online – from Facebook to commerce, from MassLive.com to World of Warcraft, from YouTube to appointment reminders from your dentist’s office – because someone is in control. When you go to Google.com, you know you aren’t being taken to a website operated by some sinister character in the Crimean mob.